Two shot at business on Harwin

There was a shootout along Harwin today, just as many stores were opening for the day. In the end, two people were shot. It started with an attempted robbery at a business on Harwin and Fondren. One suspect is in critical condition and a second in police custody after a robbery gone bad left two people with gunshot wounds and a business community upset about crime in the area.

Police got the call of a shooting in progress early, at 8:55am. Even at that hour Grace, who didn't want to give out her last name, was shopping at SK Houston when the robbers came in brandishing a small revolver.

"They shoot the robber and the son," she said. "So they shot the owner too but he doesn't get hurt."

The store is run by a family. When the robbers threatened the mother, she screamed and the father and two sons ran from the back to help her. They struggled for the gun, and one of the sons was shot in the leg.

Sgt. C.E. Elliot with the Houston Police Department explained, "The second son was able to continue the struggle with the hijacker and in the wrestle, the hijacker was shot."

The robber was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital. The son was taken to Ben Taub Hospital.

A second suspect was brought to the scene by his mother, where he was taken into police custody. The mother, Ella Ward, declined an on camera interview, but said her son was innocent.

The strip mall where SK Houston is located is a popular shopping spot, but plagued by crime. According to our Crime Tracker, there were 218 robberies in the area in 2008 and 287 in 2009 -- an increase of nearly 32 percent. One shop owner told Eyewitness News he, like a lot of his neighbors, has been a victim of crime recently.

"It happened to me," said store owner Muneer Kajani. "They followed me and they broke my window and they took this stuff from me."

Police are investigating the possibility that today's incident may be linked to other robberies in the area.